Silicon Halton Tech Under 20’s Summer Internships

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School is out, and an army of 100,000 youth has been unleashed on Halton region, and for a few they are being involved with Silicon Halton Tech Under 20 summer internships. For students (and their parents) summer is a time of relaxation, vacation and an opportunity to engage in out of school learning.  Many school-aged kids are enrolled in summer camps: sports, recreational, leadership and STEM based. Others are working: their local supermarket, fast food joint, or in the Halton high-tech community.

Oakville has a high tech community!?

There are over 600+ high tech businesses in Oakville and thousands of technology professionals and students in Halton region.  Not only is tech talent essential for these companies, but they also need talent in marketing, sales and back office operations. Business does not happen in isolation. Cooperation, relationships and shared learning are key to ensure a healthy company and community. Building that community in Oakville’s Tech sector is Silicon Halton.

Since it’s founding in 2009, Silicon Halton has brought together over 1400+ members, hosting 90+ events. Cofounded by Chris Herbert, Rick Stomphorst and Reema Duggal, Silicon Halton is going strong 8 years later.

A key part of building a strong community is helping the next generation and from this mentality, Silicon Halton’s Tech Under Twenty (TU20) was formed.

Silicon Halton TU20

Two years ago, Silicon Halton had its first Tech Under Twenty event called: “Developing Talent, Discovering Opportunities”.

Young people can accomplish amazing things, they just need opportunities to thrive

A showcase lets young people share their stories about the opportunities that have allowed them grow and succeed. Industry leaders and local government program leads shared what it takes to be successful as a young person entering the tech industry. One of the young presenters, Ella Rasmussen was instrumental in starting and leading the TU20 program and she recruited me to be a member of the leadership team. Here’s Ella on Halton Insider in 2015:

Here’s another video about TU20 that was put together by our leadership team. Special thanks to Massive Tank Studios and Media Rez for all their help.

In 2017 Ella passed the baton over to me and we’ve been been up to some pretty cool things that I want the broader Oakville community to know about.

To date , TU20 has had four youth hiring events, an entrepreneurial pitching competition and launched a school program. In this series, I will primarily focus on how the most recent event, Learn2GetHired, and the Silicon Halton community helped students find meaningful summer internships.

Learn2GetHired

We’ve hosted a variation of this event for three years now, with two main goals; teach young people important skills on how to get a job, and put them in front of employers who are looking to hire summer help. The first part of the event we had five speakers explain:

  • The job opportunities available
  • How resumes are reviewed
  • How to use social media professionally
  • How to pitch yourself
  • The importance of networking

The attendees then used their newly acquired skills to have speed interviews with local employers:

30 seconds to pitch yourself and 150 for back and forth discussion. By the end of the night, the TU20s had pitched themselves over 20 times, getting valuable experience and in some cases a summer job!

Upcoming Silicon Halton TU20s summer internships stories: